There are also concerns it could erode the role of dedicated GP receptionists - many of whom build up a close rapport with their doctors’ patients - with people having to deal with anonymous call centre staff with little medical experience instead. Unions believe thousands of receptionists could lose their jobs if the idea is adopted nationwide.

It comes after a report commissioned by the Department of Health last year said that millions of pounds could be saved each year if national or regional call centres were set up to handle GP appointments. The document said GPs should “review the possibility of moving to call centres for appointment-based bookings”.

The exact details of the Surrey pilot have yet to be decided, but one option under consideration would see patients ring 111, ask for NHS Direct and then speak to a call centre worker who would book them an appointment remotely. The doctors involved insist it would free up receptionists to carry out other administrative duties.

Dr Joe McGilligan, a doctor in Redhill, Surrey, and chair of ESyDoc, said: “Everyone in the NHS has to become more efficient and this is one way of doing that.”

Emphasising he wanted to make life easier for patients, he said: “People complain about telephone services in GPs’ surgeries all the time. We have only got a fixed number of lines.”

However, he said patients would still have the option to ask to be put through directly to the surgery if they really wanted to speak to a receptionist themselves. Another option was for the 111 number to run in tandem with GP surgery numbers, he said.

"If it was up to me I’d launch this tomorrow, but it will be within six month,” he told Pulse magazine. "It’s time GPs stopped being so negative towards NHS Direct and worked with the service.”

Board papers from NHS Direct show that the service is now in talks about handling GP appointments for hundreds of thousands of patients.

NHS Direct has already held talks with GP consortia in Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and London, according to Pulse, while managers also plan to discuss the idea with doctors in Birmingham, Torquay and south Gloucestershire. GP consortia will handle some £80 billion of the NHS budget and commission services for patients under Coalition reforms.

The board papers for NHS Direct say: “With the changes taking place to the commissioning landscape it is clear that relationships with GP commissioning consortia are the key to the future of NHS Direct’s services.” NHS Direct is already booking GP out-of-hour appointments as part of West Yorkshire Urgent Care Service and through 111 services in East Midlands and Luton.

Dr Brian Gaffney, medical director of NHS Direct and a GP in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, said doctors were “keen to work with us”.

“We know as GPs we can’t cope with demand for our practice appointments,” he said.

But other doctors and Unison, which represents thousands of receptionists, fear any move to centralise bookings could harm patients’ care.

Karen Jennings, head of health at Unison, said: “GPs need to consider the effect of replacing human contact with a booking service.

“We’ve all waited on the phone to get through to a call centre, with irritating muzak playing in the background.

“It’s a hugely frustrating, depersonalised, even upsetting experience, made even worse if you are ill or caring for a sick child, or elderly relative.

“A properly funded receptionist, who knows their patients, and can treat them with dignity, respect, and urgency, is what patients want.”

Dr Philip Cox, a GP from Buxton in Derbyshire, described the idea as “totally ludicrous”.

He said: “It will cause chaos and patients will be totally frustrated when they can’t get the appointments. There will be no local knowledge and there will be safety issues.”

He added: “There’s a lot of soft knowledge that receptionists have, like knowing when there’s been a bereavement in a patient’s family.”

Dr Cox was not convinced that receptionists would not be cut.

“The only way there could be cost savings to this is if GPs make receptionists redundant,” he said.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “The pilot seems to be about making things more convenient for patients using the 111 number as an additional way of getting through to their practice.”

However, she cautioned: “We would be very concerned at anything more than this - patients won’t want their receptionist replaced.”

“Patients want local services with people that know them and their community.”

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: “Innovation is incredibly important for the health service, but it is crucial that it does not come at the expense of the care that we provide to our patients.”

Before Christmas the Department of Health distanced itself from the idea of centralising GPs’ bookings, saying there were “no plans” for a national call centre.

But last month Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, indicated he was in favour, saying he hoped patients “will be able to make bookings” through the new 111 number.

The department’s response on Wednesday also appeared to be more positive.

A spokesman said: “If GPs locally think 111 could be used to improve access to GP appointments - in addition to the urgent care function - then it could be tested as part of the local pilots.”

However, she emphasised: “NHS Direct is not planning to take over GP appointment booking.”